


Homestretch

by mimosaeyes



Category: 12 Monkeys (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-27 16:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20951540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimosaeyes/pseuds/mimosaeyes
Summary: Cassie and Cole, in their after.For fictober on tumblr, prompts: “Can you stay?” and “We could have a chance.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title draws on The Bones by Maren Morris: “We’re in the homestretch of the hard times,” because I’ve been listening to the duet version with Hozier a lot.

“James. James!” 

Cole’s eyes snap open. Then he blinks against the darkness and the confusion of his senses, which are still reeling. His breaths come out ragged and gasping in the cold night air.

Cassie is leaning on one elbow and has her other hand on his chest. As he focuses on her, she nods encouragingly at him. “Shh. You’re okay. You’re here with me. I’m here.”

She doesn’t even know what his nightmare was about this time (granted, they tend to revolve around a similar theme), yet she knows just what to say. Already Cole can feel his jackrabbit heartbeat begin to slow down.

He groans softly, letting his eyes slide shut, letting the tension bleed out from his muscles. He swipes at his face with one hand. There are tears on his cheeks.

“Sorry,” he mutters, sitting up in bed. The sound of his bare legs moving under the sheets seems impossibly loud in the silence. He peers at Cassie, who has sat up too and is now watching him warily, sadly.

She looks at him like that a lot.

He doesn’t mind; he just wishes he could stop giving her reason to.

“Sorry,” Cole says again, and then, “Shoot. I didn’t mean to wake you. And you have that long day at work tomorrow…”

Cassie’s already shaking her head. “It’s fine. Do you… want to talk to me about it?”

A beat. “I’ll take the couch,” Cole says by way of answering, and starts to swing his legs out of bed.

She reaches out and grabs his wrist to stop him. “No. Can you stay?”

He stills at her touch, wants to lean into it instinctively. But he shouldn’t stay, no matter how much he’s tempted.

He sighs, almost soundlessly. “Cassie… it’s a bad night. You’ll get more rest without me here.”

“Stay,” she repeats. “You sleep better when you know I’m safe.”

Stubborn as ever. And right, of course.

He waits another two seconds, thinks _How did I ever deserve you_, then gets back under the covers. Cassie turns so that he can tuck his legs up behind hers and lay with his chest flush to her back, spooning her. She reaches back and tugs his arm so that it’s draped over her.

He kisses her hair, buries his face in her scent.

“Better?” she whispers.

“Better,” he promises, and waits for it to be true.


	2. Chapter 2

Cole leaves work early, hoping to have a home-cooked meal waiting for Cassie when she gets back. He bustles in with the fresh tomatoes and zucchini he’s just bought, switching the bag from one hand to the other as he shrugs off his coat.

He stops short when he gets to the living room and sees her curled up on the couch already, not snugly like she’s gotten comfy there, but with an uncharacteristic sprawl to her limbs. Cassie moves with a dancer’s grace, certain and poised.

When she glances up in surprise to hear him, he notices the dark circles around her eyes.

He drops everything. Quite literally, if also carefully.

“Hey,” Cole murmurs, going to her and immediately cupping her cheek with his hand. “Are you sick or something? You’re home early.”

Cassie attempts a smile, but it’s unconvincing, brittle somehow. “So are you,” she points out. 

His brow furrows. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear; her face feels clammy, and her hair is damp with perspiration.

“You _are_ sick. Why didn’t you call me? You need to see a doctor.”

“I _am_ a doctor—"

“—You know what I mean—”

“—and this isn’t that kind of sick.” 

He freezes, except for the hand that’s still carding fingers through her hair, because she’s always liked when he does that.

Now Cassie swallows, puts her hand over his, and gently moves it down to her belly. 

His eyes widen slightly. His heart stutters, leaps.

She lifts her shoulders in the faintest shrug.

“I’m scared,” she says, then almost laughs at how unfunny it all is — at the irony. “I always wanted an after with you. I just forgot that our _before_ would still haunt us. James, how can we do this again?”

He drops his gaze, struggling for the words. 

“After we lost Athan…” he trails off. Then he looks up, and he finds the rest of the words in her eyes. “The stakes changed. We weren’t fighting to save the future anymore, not really. We were fighting to have a chance.” 

Cassie’s misty-eyed, but she watches him steadily.

“We could have a chance,” he says.

“A second one, you mean.” 

He smiles wryly. “You said time owes you, owes us. Maybe this is how we collect.” 

It takes her a long moment, but finally she leans forward, presses her forehead to his. And nods, and breathes.

**Author's Note:**

> Also available on tumblr [here](https://mimosaeyes.tumblr.com/post/188214184727/fictober19-prompt-8-can-you-stay-fanfic-for) and [here](https://mimosaeyes.tumblr.com/post/188237058772/fictober19-prompt-22-we-could-have-a-chance).


End file.
